Month: July 2009

It’s time to hit the road for another International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) congress. This year takes us to Fort Worth, Texas where the US hosts are set to welcome more than 700 delegates from up to 30 different countries. We’ll be immersed in the cowboy spirit during our stay in Fort Worth, learning […]

Much has been said about media coverage of the H1N1 outbreak – both by the general public and by those of us in agriculture. And most of what is being said hasn’t been very complimentary. Certainly from farmers’ perspective, the media is to blame for tagging H1N1 with the nickname swine flu and then repeating […]

This post is part of an ongoing series about Ontario crops that are in season. I’ve loved cherries all of my life. But as with so many things, I’d never really given a second thought to how they got to my dinner table. I knew they grew on trees but the steps between blossom and […]

Hog farmers need help to survive and the best thing you can do to support them is to put Canadian pork on your fork. That’s the message behind a new TV commercial – produced by an Ontario swine veterinarian – that made it’s debut on the province’s airwaves this week.

Here’s one for the “you’ve got to be kidding me!” file… I read this article on the website of Farmers Weekly, an agricultural publication in the United Kingdom. According to the story, a UK dairy farmer has been found liable for injuries suffered by a walker who was attacked by his cattle while walking across […]

Many people today have to avoid milk and dairy products in their diets because of allergies or intolerances. But luckily for them, there is an alternative – and one that is becoming increasingly popular and increasingly available in Ontario.

Those of us in the farming community have known for a while now that hog farmers are facing financial difficulties and need help. Thanks to the efforts of many, even mainstream media have picked up on the crisis in the pork sector. But although many use facts and figures to try to illustrate the point, […]

An interesting headline grabbed my eye while I was riding the Underground in London last week: “Anger at strawberry growers – Wimbeldon’s fruit farm is berry ugly”. Anger? At berry growers? I found that hard to fathom so I had to read the story and what I read left me shaking my head.

A freelance science writer from Egypt speaking at a conference for science journalists helped shed some light on that country’s extraordinary decision to slaughter its entire pig population when H1N1 influenza was first announced earlier this year. Nadia El-Awady, Program Manager with the Arab Science Journalists Association, spoke about the events that led up to […]